Indonesia sentences Briton to 6 months for slapping official

Auj-e Taqaddas of British, center, walks as she is escorted by investigators after her trial in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. A British woman who slapped an immigration officer on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali after missing her flight due to an expired visa was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison. (AP Photo)

DENPASAR, Indonesia — A British woman who slapped an immigration officer on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali after missing her flight due to an expired visa was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison.

Video showing Auj-e Taqaddas cursing and hitting an officer at Bali's international airport in July was widely shared on social media last year.

The video shows the 43-year-old throwing a lengthy tantrum after being asked to pay a fine of $4,000 for overstaying her visa, which had expired in February.

After being sentenced in Denpasar District Court, Taqaddas said the court was corrupt and she had been tortured by police three times including on Wednesday.

She was arrested Wednesday morning in a shopping mall after failing to appear in court several times.

"This is a sham court who was only listening to the dirty prosecutor who did not bring me to the court for six months," said Taqaddas, who is seeking an appeal.

During the trial that began in December, Taqaddas pleaded not guilty and said the video had been edited.

She was charged with violent behavior against a government official and prosecutors had sought a sentence of one year in prison.

"Indonesia is a criminal country. Indonesian law is corrupt. Indonesian judges are corrupt," Taqaddas shouted as two officials escorted her from the court. "No lawyer was provided. Indonesian immigration is corrupt," she said.

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